Never Judge a Book
by mizzshy
Summary: A new student, riding a motorcycle and sporting too many piercings, starts at Levy's school and it seems everyone but her is intrigued about him. When their paths cross by chance, she starts to learn more about him and finds that perhaps first impressions don't really mean much. (High School AU)


**It was my beautiful friend Amy's birthday recently and I wrote her this fic. I've not actually watched or read Fairy Tail myself so all this is based on what she and others told me about the characters, transplanted into a high school AU setting. I really hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

Levy frowns at Jet, folding her arms across her chest.

"We are not publishing an exposé on the new guy," she says flatly.

"Why not?" asks Jet, eyes bright with what he clearly thinks is genius. "It'll bring so many readers!"

Levy shakes her head, blue hair bouncing around her ears. "Because it's unnecessary. We never do pieces on the new students, just the thing in the back to welcome them."

"But he sounds like such a great story!" chimes in Droy from where he's leaning on a desk by the window. "I heard he killed a guy!"

"That's not true!" says Jet, "he robbed a store!"

Before Droy can respond, Levy holds up her hands. "No," she says firmly. "No story."

The boys sigh and Jet slopes off into a seat by Droy, logging into the computer there. Levy puts down her back and glances around the IT room.

"Where's Lucy?" she asks. When the boys shrug in response, she resists the urge to roll her eyes and instead logs into another computer to start compiling the stories for the next edition of the school paper. The boys confer quietly on their pieces and she drags elements around the screen to arrange the paper. Eventually the door opens again and Lucy walks in looking flustered.

"What happened?" asks Levy. "You're not normally this late."

"I'm so sorry!" says Lucy, dropping her bag into a chair. "I would have sent a text but I forgot to charge my phone... again." She pouts briefly before continuing, "The hallway outside History was totally packed. Apparently the new guy – Gajeel? – got into a fight with Loke and you know what the idiots at this school are like: they all wanted to crowd around and watch, and the place got totally overrun!"

"Yeah that sounds about right," says Levy with a sigh, but before she can say anything more, Jet and Droy jump up from their seats.

"Levy!" says Jet excitedly. "Let me cover this!"

"It's not an exposé," adds Droy. "We'd just be reporting on the fight!"

Levy fixes them with a pointed look. "And when have we ever reported on fights before?" The looks of enthusiasm drop from their faces. "Besides," continues Levy, looking thoughtful, "the guy started here yesterday. It's hardly fair to single him out in his first week."

* * *

A few days later, Levy stays after school to go to the library. Having filled her bag with books, she wanders slowly down the Science corridor, nose deep in another book and earbuds in her ears. Entirely lost in her own world, she doesn't even think about the intersection she's approaching – she's walked this way a thousand times or more, every time she goes to the library or science classes. She's not expecting any kind of surprise, not even as she turns the corner and the page.

"OW!"

As she's turning the corner, she feels a sudden weight slam into her. She goes flying backwards, landing on her butt on the dusty lino floor. She looks up to see an immense figure above her, his stance suggesting that he just came to a halt from running. He has long dark hair hanging down his back, a battered rucksack and red eyes, over which his eyebrows are pierced, along with his ears, nose and lips. Levy scowls up at him, pulling her earbuds out of her ears.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" she says, mortified at how her voice reduces to a squeak as she talks.

Gajeel – she knows it's him: the rumour mill here is very detailed – frowns down at her. "What good would that do?" he asks. "I wouldn't be able to see something so small even if I had a microscope."

He shifts his bag on his shoulder and goes to walk away, but Levy glares up at him, scrambling to her feet.

"Aren't you going to apologise?" she asks, her voice gaining a little more resolve with her annoyance.

Gajeel stops in his tracks, still staring down at her. "For what?You ran into me."

"No I didn't!" she says indignantly. "You ran into _me_!"

Gajeel lets out a short chuckle. "You're very noisy for a shrimp."

Levy scowls. "Don't call me that!"

"Whatever titch," he says. "I've got stuff to do."

Levy growls quietly again as Gajeel turns to leave. She bends to retrieve the book he knocked from her hands and her jaw drops as she sees that the spine has been bent. She fixes her angry gaze on Gajeel and her empty hand clenches into a fist.

"You know what?!" she yells down the corridor, making him stop, still facing away from her. "I _am_ sorry! I'm sorry I didn't let those idiots write that story about you! I'm sorry for sticking up for someone as rude and bad-tempered as you!"

She stops shouting, breathing hard, heart racing, and stares angrily at Gajeel's back. He stays still for a long moment, and Levy wonders if he's about to to turn around and say something – maybe apologise – but then she watches him push open the fire doors and leave.

* * *

Over the following week, Levy seems to see Gajeel everywhere. She hadn't realised before but now she notices him in her classes, in the corridors, in the cafeteria. He seems largely ambivalent towards her, offering little more than a raised, barred eyebrow and occasionally a slight twitch of his equally-barred lip before moving on. Levy never says anything in response and tries to keep her own face impassive at best and maybe a little flushed at worst. Her outburst at him lingers in her mind and colours her cheeks – she knows it was maybe a little disproportionate and that he probably thinks she's a complete weirdo, but she doesn't know why it bothers her so much. She hasn't told Lucy about it, let alone anyone else, and when Gajeel comes up in conversation, she tries not to engage and takes to sticking her nose in a book or writing more determinedly in her notebook.

It comes as a complete surprise when Gajeel is the first to reach out.

She's sitting reading on a windowsill in the English department – the sill is deep enough that she can curl up on it with a book quite comfortably – and doesn't hear the footsteps approaching until a shadow falls across the page. When she looks up to see Gajeel standing above her, she almost falls off the sill, and her book jumps out of her hands and onto the floor.

"Uh..." She blinks at him, unable to form real words, even as he bends down and picks up the book and holds it out to her. She looks down and takes it, cursing her cheeks for reddening.

"I have something for you," he says. Out of his bag he brings a small yellow notebook and pen, which he presses into her free hand. Levy stares down at the notebook, eyebrows coming together in a look of confusion. She looks up at him again to find him gazing steadily down at her.

"Uh..." _Make actual words, idiot._ "What's this for?"

Gajeel shrugs a little. "I wanted to say sorry." Levy raises an eyebrow but offers no verbal response and he adds, "For being a dick to you the other day. I ran into you and yeah I probably should have been looking where I was going."

"Oh, uh... thanks," stammers Levy. "Sorry for umm... yelling at you."

She looks into his face and he grins. "It's okay, fairy," he says. "I need yelling at sometimes."

The nickname sends a prickle down Levy's spine and she frowns. "Don't call me fairy."

"Why not?"

"I don't like it."

"Suits you though."

"I still don't like it."

Before Gajeel can retort, the bell rings to signal the end of lunch. Levy slips off the windowsill.

"Gotta go," says Gajeel. "See you later shrimp."

He starts to go and Levy stares after him, her annoyance at the patronising nicknames sitting on her but eclipsed by something else she doesn't fully recognise. She looks down at her hand, the notebook and pen still clutched there, and then back up at Gajeel's back.

"Thank you!" she calls, and he raises one hand, waving as he disappears into the throng of students down the corridor. As Levy hurriedly stuffs her things back into her bag, she realises she should probably get out of the habit of yelling after him down corridors.

* * *

When Gajeel knocks on the IT room door where the school paper committee meets, he's expecting the tiny blue-haired girl to answer. When he is instead faced with two boys – one skinny and ginger and the other heavier with dark hair – he raises an eyebrow.

"Hey," he says. "Can I talk to shorty?"

The guys exchange a look and the redhead – is his name Jet? – asks, "Why?"

Gajeel stares impassively at him, folding his arms. "None of your business."

Jet gives Gajeel a thin smile. "It's my business if I say it's my business."

Gajeel frowns. "Listen, wise-guy, I don't really care what you have to say about this – I came here to see someone else."

The dark-haired guy – Droy? – folds his arms, mimicking Gajeel's stance. "Hey, chill man, we just want to know why you're asking after Levy."

Gajeel's eyes narrow. "Again, I don't see what business that is of yours. If she's not here just tell me so I can stop appreciating how punchable your faces are."

"Careful big guy," says Jet, and Gajeel thinks he hears a wobble in his voice. "Word is your already on thin ice with the faculty."

"Yeah," chips in Droy, but his face betrays his nerves. "A slip up now might get you in deep trouble."

"What's going on here?"

The voice breaks through the conversation and Gajeel looks over his shoulder to see Levy, arms crossed and wearing a reproachful expression.

"Levy!" says Jet. "Don't you worry, we were just dealing with things!"

She casts an eye over the three of them, raising an eyebrow, before looking directly at Gajeel, who feels a jolt at the confidence of her gaze.

"What's up?" she asks.

"Can I talk to you?" asks Gajeel.

Levy glances at the boys in the doorway again before replying, "Sure."

They walk away down the corridor, to whispers from the others. Levy seems keen to get away from her school paper colleagues as she continues walking, Gajeel following (and having to walk only a little slower than usual), until they leave the building and plonk down on a bench outside.

"Makarov's been on my back about these midterms," says Gajeel, getting right into it. "He says I've got to do well in them."

He pauses and Levy nods. "Right." She seems to stop herself from saying that everyone should.

"And he mentioned it might be good to get help studying from someone else," continues Gajeel.

"Okay..." Her tone is somewhere between neutral and tentative.

"And I figured you seem pretty smart," he says, "or at least good at studying. So I wanted to ask if you would help me study."

A look of surprise crosses Levy's face. She seems to consider him for a moment, fingers running along the cuffs of her jumper, before nodding. "Uh, sure?" she says, her tone needlessly uncertain. "I mean, I can try?"

A small smile finds its way onto Gajeel's face. "Cool, thanks."

He stands to leave but then –

"Why me though?" she asks, eyes wide and earnest. "There's plenty of smarter people, like Mirajane."

Gajeel shrugs. "Well Gray said she's kind of... temperamental to begin with, but I guess it's mostly because you're one of the only people here who doesn't flinch when they walk by."

He sees her face go pink just before he goes.

* * *

When Levy returns to the IT room to meet the rest of the school newspaper team, she finds only Lucy there.

"The guys said they were going to follow up on the cafeteria horse meat story," she explains as Levy gazes questioningly around the room. "Are you okay?"

Levy nods slowly, unsure how much of the blush still lingers in her cheeks.

"Are you sure?" asks Lucy. "You seem kind of quiet considering Jet and Droy went AWOL."

"Uh..." Levy gestures pointlessly to the door, utter confusion on her face. "I just agreed to help Gajeel study for midterms."

Lucy looks surprised. "Wow, really?"

"I think so?"

"Well what happened?"

"He asked if I would help him study for midterms and I said yes."

"Sounds like you did then."

"Was that..." Levy hesitates, looking for the right word. "Wise?"

Lucy shrugs. "You can always say no later, but if anyone can do it, it's you."

"You think so?"

"I know so."

* * *

Armed with Lucy's words of encouragement, the next day Levy makes arrangements with Gajeel and the day after she finds him waiting for her by the school's front doors.

"Hey," she greets him, getting a silent (though not unfriendly) nod in response, and follows him round the side building to the bike racks. Acutely aware of everyone around them staring, she does her best to look as nonchalant about the attention as he does, though with no idea how successfully. Her jaw drops when Gajeel goes over to a grubby motorbike and proffers her a helmet.

"You'll need this," he says.

She takes the helmet in slightly shaky hands and says, "Really? On the bike?"

Gajeel raises an eyebrow. "Well you can walk if you like shorty," he says, "but I'm going on the bike and it's a long way."

Levy watches him pull on his own helmet and sighs, putting on the one he handed her and climbing onto the bike after him. Gingerly she grabs the material of his blazer under his arms, but his large hands seek hers and pull her arms firmly around his waist. She flushes ( _Thank god for the helmet._ ) and rearranges herself in the new position, getting comfortable, and once she feels secure Gajeel makes the bike roar to life beneath them and they coast out of the car park.

Levy isn't sure if Gajeel normally obeys the speed limits or if he does now for her sake, but she's grateful either way not to die on the ride over. She feels a strange tingle in her legs when she alights – almost like a feeling of loss.

"You get used to it," says Gajeel, eyeing her as she takes off her helmet and they go inside. In the (surprisingly tidy) hall, he says, "Shoes off, shrimp."

"Oh my god, stop calling me that!" Levy growls as she slips off her shoes.

Gajeel looks like he might be about to say something but then they both hear a loud 'meow' and he looks down, a huge grin on his face.

"Lily!" he coos, bending down and picking up the cat at his feet. "Hello sweetie, what have you been up to?" He brings the cat to his face and kisses it several times, rubbing his face on its fur. Levy feels like her eyebrows may soon merge with her hairline in her surprise. Gajeel glances at her and says, "This is Pantherlily, he's the best cat ever. Pantherlily," he addresses the cat, "this is one of the girls from school, she's nice to play friendly." Lily looks at Levy and meows again. "Yes okay, I'll feed you."

He puts the cat down and gestures to Levy to follow him into the kitchen, where he gets out a can of cat food, opens it and dumps the contents into a cat bowl. Leaving this on the floor, he smiles widely as Lily digs in. Levy watches, still stunned into silence: she's not sure what she was expecting any more, because everything that has happened has wiped any expectations from her mind.

"Do you want some water?" asks Gajeel, and Levy blinks, the spell breaking.

"Y-yes please," she stammers. _This is going to be weird._

Later, at Gajeel's dining room table, with books spread out in front of them, Levy feels safer – safe enough to chance a glance at Gajeel. He frowns at the Chemistry book in front of him, turning the page, and as Levy watches he shifts uncomfortably and his chair squeaks. She goes back to her own essay, but when she hears the chair squeak again, she looks over to see Gajeel stretching his back.

"Are you okay?" she asks. "You seem kind of uncomfortable."

Gajeel grimaces. "I don't really like sitting here much."

"We can move elsewhere if you want?" Levy suggests.

"I don't have any other tables."

"You can't study effectively if you're not able to relax," says Levy. "We can try somewhere else."

Ten minutes later, they're sitting on the living room floor. Their books now cover the coffee table, Levy sitting on one side of it and Gajeel the other, leaning his back against the sofa. Pantherlily jumps onto the sofa behind him, bumping his face into the back of Gajeel's head to demand attention.

"Better?" asks Levy, getting a nod in response, and they start going over the curriculum for Gajeel's classes.

* * *

A week (and two more study sessions) later, Levy, Lucy, Jet and Droy are sitting together in a school newspaper meeting, all of them quietly working on stories for the paper. Levy frowns at her notebook, trying to decide how to re-word the clumsy sentence she has written in her notebook, when Droy interrupts her train of thought.

"Levy?" When she looks up, he continues, "Everyone says you're going out with that Gajeel guy."

Levy glowers, a bright flush immediately blooming in her cheeks. "I'm helping him study for midterms!"

Jet looks up too. "But people have seen you getting on his bike," he says, his tone almost accusatory. Levy scoffs.

"Well I'm hardly going to _walk_ to his house – it's on the other side of tow–"

"You've been to his _house_?!" The guys cry in unison, identical pained looks on their faces.

"Well yeah."

Jet and Droy look at each other, betrayed and appalled, before settling into a silent simultaneous sulk. Levy exchanges a look with Lucy, who rolls her eyes.

" _Boys_ ," she mouths with a little shake of her head, and Levy stifles a giggle as she goes back to her writing.

* * *

The next evening, Levy hops on the back of Gajeel's bike again and they head over to his house. She no longer hesitates in putting on the helmet and grabbing hold of Gajeel's waist, and the grumble of the bike no longer feels alien and threatening. She almost wants to go faster, to feel the rush of wind past her body and laugh wildly with him. Everything the boys were saying yesterday comes back to her and she frowns to herself, turning the words over in her mind. What did they mean by 'everyone'? And why would 'everyone' care if she _was_ going out with Gajeel? What does it matter to anyone else? She only barely recognises the defensiveness in her thoughts as Gajeel stops at a red light. It's not like she even wants or intends to, right? She's just helping him study and that's it. Their study sessions are purely for that: _study_. Gajeel's need to pass midterms combined with her desire to help means they muddle their way through. Sure, he apologised for knocking her over, and Levy really did appreciate the notebook and pen, but he's still infuriating. Levy sometimes wonders if Gajeel even knows her actual name – he's never once addressed her by it, and the nicknames he uses are so...

Levy never finishes her thought – the bike lurches forward and she shrieks in surprise, clamping her arms around Gajeel again, unsure of when her grip loosened. She spends the rest of the ride concentrating on not falling off the bike, and when they arrive at Gajeel's place she gets off the bike slowly, not entirely trusting herself.

"Never forget to hold on tight, fairy," says Gajeel as she hands him her helmet. She colours at the nickname.

"Yeah, sorry," she says "Was thinking about... stuff."

She follows him into the house, slipping off her shoes by the front door as always.

"I thought about what you said," says Gajeel. "About setting up a comfortable place to study."

"Oh, right," replies Levy. "Did you find somewhere better?" They've been sitting in the living room so far, which has seemed fine to her.

Gajeel gives her a small smile and she thinks it brings a similar one to her own face. "I did better," he says. "I made one."

He shows her through to the living room where Levy sees the sofa, several dining chairs and the clothes horse set up with blankets over them to make a fort. Inside are several large cushions off the sofa and two camping lanterns.

"A study fort?" Levy can't keep the grin off her face.

"Yup," says Gajeel. "I raided the camping stuff in the attic."

"This is so cool!" Levy laughs. "I bet Lily loves it too!"

"Yeah I can't keep the little bugger out." Gajeel bends down and peers inside the fort before sticking his arms in and producing Pantherlily from within. "Isn't that right, mister?"

The cat yawns, considering them both lazily, and Gajeel carries him off into the kitchen to feed him before they get started.

* * *

The weekend brings a wave of unseasonably warm spring weather. On Monday morning, in all the classrooms the windows are thrown open to try and keep the place as cool as possible. The mugginess settles on everyone, heavy and humid, and makes them all move slower and more sleepily than usual. Levy does her best with the heat, fanning herself with a spare piece of paper she's been using as a bookmark, but even she can feel the prickle of irritation settling into a tension on the back of her neck. Nevertheless, she gets through the day somehow, and when she goes to meet Gajeel after school she even manages a smile for him. He looks uncomfortable in the weather, his long dark hair heavy down his back, but his answering nod is as friendly towards her as ever.

At his house, he opens the windows and back door, trying to get some kind of through-breeze, and they get into the fort, which seems to now be a permanent fixture. It's a little warm for her liking, but then so has today been, so she does her best to ignore the bead of sweat she can feel rolling down her spine and shrugs off her blazer.

"So, English," she says, picking up a book. It's the one subject they haven't covered yet.

"Ugh," Gajeel says, running a hand over his face.

"Not a fan?" asks Levy.

Gajeel shrugs. "I can speak it," he says, "and I like poetry and songs, but why do I have to try and analyse it? You can't analyse feelings."

Levy tries to hide her surprise at hearing Gajeel say something so profound but the heat makes her move slowly and she thinks he must notice. "You can describe it though, right?"

Gajeel shrugs. "I guess."

"So you can analyse why it makes you feel that way."

"Why though?" asks Gajeel. "Why not just let it speak for itself?"

Levy almost laughs. "Because you have to pass midterms."

"Fair point."

Levy wipes her forehead with the back of her hand. "So what does" – she flips through the poetry anthology they have to study and settles on a page, putting it down between them and pointing to one of the poems – "this poem make you feel?"

Gajeel reads through it silently, his face betraying no emotion, and then shrugs. "Kinda shitty."

Levy nods. "Why do you think that is?"

"I don't know."

"There has to be some reason or it wouldn't make you feel anything."

Gajeel shifts, lifting his hair off his neck. "Maybe I just feel bored."

"'Bored' isn't 'shitty'," Levy frowns – _god_ , it's so hot.

Gajeel grunts. "Who cares?"

"Well I do," says Levy, "and so should you if you don't want the wrath of Makarov on you."

Gajeel says nothing, rolling his eyes.

"Is it to do with the imagery maybe?" Levy doggedly prompts.

"I..." Gejeel pulls at the back of his shirt, peeling it off his skin. "I don't know, it–"

"That's no use!" cuts in Levy. "Come on, you've got to try harder!"

A look of irritation crosses Gajeel's face but he shakes his head. "I was going to say it's too hot in here to think and could we maybe go sit outside in the garden?"

"Oh..." Levy feels a twinge in her stomach. "Uhh, sure if you'd prefer."

She crawls out of the fort, Gajeel following, and they move out into the garden, flopping onto the grass together. As Levy arranges the books between them, Gajeel pulls out a hair tie and bundles his hair up into it to get it off his neck. Levy tries to let the coolness of the breeze bring down the flush in her face before opening the anthology back to the poem.

"So, the poem?" she nudges.

"Yeah, uh... Gajeel stares contemplatively at the page. "I guess it _is_ the imagery. The poem has all this stuff about landfill and garbage, but then you get this kind of contrast, you know, with the gold and shit."

Levy stares at him in silence, mouth hanging open.

"What?" he asks.

"That's perfect," says Levy.

"Huh?"

"That – everything you said," she explains. "That's all you have to do on the test."

"Seriously?"

"Yep!" She grins widely at him, but he now stares at her in silence. She's about to ask what's wrong when a look of indignation crosses Gajeel's face.

"Well I can do _that_!" he says. "Why didn't they just say so?"

The effect of his exclamation is ruined somewhat when Levy watches a blossom fall from the tree above them and land on his head. The sight of the huge, pierced boy with a dainty flower atop his head brings a giggle to Levy's lips and she can't hold it in. Gajeel breaks off his mini-tirade to frown at her.

"Sorry," she smiles. "Just..." She gets up on her knees and delicately picks the blossom off his head. "You had a..." Her words trail off as she realises just how close they are now, her body suddenly feeling weirdly light. His face reads the same as her feelings – at least she thinks so – and she almost wants to put her arms around him in an embrace. She hovers there uncertainly, heart fluttering, before finally clearing her throat, smiling and sitting back down.

"Sorry," she says, almost in a whisper.

"S'okay." His voice is low, almost nervous.

"So, um..." Levy exhales slowly and smiles. "Let's talk about exam technique for English."

* * *

As she runs a curious finger over the flower still in her hand, she realises she's sitting a little closer to Gajeel than before.

On Saturday morning, Levy finds herself staring into her wardrobe with a blank look on her face. After considering her various clothes a little longer, she pulls out her phone and dials.

"Hey, what's up?" Lucy's voice is chirpy and amazingly alert for a morning.

"I think I'm going crazy," says Levy.

"How so?" asks Lucy.

Levy frowns at her open wardrobe again. "I'm meeting Gajeel at the library in an hour to do some final midterm prep and I just spent the last twenty minutes staring at all my clothes."

Lucy chuckles. "Sorry, I know I shouldn't laugh. Why do you think you're worrying about this?"

Levy raises an eyebrow, considering the question. "I don't know." Her eyes narrow. "Why do you sound like you know something I don't?"

"No reason," says Lucy quickly.

"Then help me!" says Levy.

Lucy giggles again. "Okay – what are your options?"

* * *

An hour later, Levy pushes open the front door to the library. She eventually settled on her favourite yellow dress, and with Lucy's help chose some nice shoes and other things to wear with it. She casts a glance around the place and sees Gajeel sitting at a table in the Linguistics section. As she approaches, it occurs to her that she's never seen him out of school uniform either. She's not overly surprised to see him wearing mostly black clothes, but the sight of his arms surprises her: his upper arms and shoulders are huge! Not that she didn't expect it, but she suddenly realises that his biceps are probably comparable to her torso. She finds herself wondering how it would feel to be hugged by him and imagines that it might be quite nice. She flushes, realising just what she's thinking, and does her best to clear her mind as she goes over to him.

"Hey," she says, sitting down opposite him. "How's it going?"

He looks up and offers her a smile ( _Why does my tummy feel weird?_ ). "Not bad, you?"

"Yeah, I'm okay." She pulls her notebook and pen out of her bag and puts them on the table. "How are you feeling about next week?"

Gajeel shrugs. "Eh, fine I guess."

"That's good." Levy flips open her notebook and searches for her place.

"Thanks."

Levy looks up to see Gajeel gazing at her, an unreadable expression on his face.

"What for?" she asks.

"Helping me out like this," he explains. "It's actually been kind of nice."

"Oh, uh, thanks," stammers Levy. "I mean – you're welcome! I've kind of enjoyed it too."

They share a smile and then Gajeel looks through his notes. Levy fully intends to go back to her own work but she finds herself stuck on watching Gajeel: his hands moving over his notes and books, red eyes skimming over the pages, dark hair falling into his face as he reads. She puts down her pen.

"Hey Gajeel?" He looks up at her. "Can I ask you something?"

He raises an eyebrow. "Sure."

"Just... everyone says all this stuff about you," she says. "Like... that you were in prison or abroad or something, and I... I wanted to know what the truth was."

He doesn't answer right away, and the silence stretches. Levy clears her throat.

"Sorry," she says. "If you don't want to tell me–"

"No it's okay," he says, "just no one's ever asked before."

Levy blinks. "Oh..."

Gajeel closes the book he was looking in and puts it down on the table, folding his arms over it. "I have a little sister – her name's Wendy."

"You never mentioned her before," says Levy.

"She's my half sister," clarifies Gajeel, "and she doesn't go to school here." He pauses for a second, apparently searching for the words. "Our dad was kind of a dick and never around and my mother never really liked me much. She said I reminded her of him, so when she remarried she wasted no time sending me off to my dad and his new lady... and their baby girl. Dad cleared off again so then it was just me, Wendy and Grandeeney. Fortunately for me, Grandeeney was amazing and let me stay there..." He goes silent and frowns.

"What happened?" asks Levy.

Gajeel's mouth twists. "She died. Two years ago." He blinks a few times and Levy lets her gaze drop to his hands, trying to preserve his privacy. Finally he gulps and continues, "I was already a problem at school, kept getting in trouble and fights and stuff, so I just dropped out, figured Wendy needed me home more. I got a crappy job and did what I could to keep things going so she could stay in school. It worked for a while..." He gives her a wry smile. " _But_ the government weren't keen on that, said we had to both be in school. I tried to fight them on it, told them I was doing everything I could for her, but I'm just some punk kid, and they overruled me, so eventually Wendy got sent to live with her grandma and I came here. I call her every other day and try to go see her once a month."

Levy tilts her head to one side. "Couldn't you go with her?"

Gajeel laughs, the sound a touch too loud in the quiet of the library. "And live with that crotchety old haint? No way in hell!" He breaks off from laughing and gives Levy a thoughtful look. The direct eye contact catches Levy off guard, but she matches it, eyes stinging a little, and Gajeel half-smiles. "Besides, I wanted some time to myself, you know? I've never really been that great a person so I figured I could use this time for something good. I want to be a better brother – when we're together again I want her to be proud of me." Gajeel's half-smile turns into a full smile that he sends across the table to Levy, who does her best to return it, a lump in her throat.

* * *

Midterm week passes by in a manic blur. Levy feels like she spends the entire week in a perpetual state of revision, exams, sleeping and eating, in various orders. The school newspaper for that week is rushed, and she knows it's not to standard, and she barely has time to see people socially, let alone for any other reason beyond casting one another glances before and after exams. She doesn't even get time to catch up with Gajeel and see how things are going for him. After him telling her about Wendy in the library they moved on to revision and she struggled to find an opportunity to say anything more about it, but she's been turning the story over and over in her mind since. She feels like she sees Gajeel differently now – where before he was an enigma, she now feels that she understands him more. Not only that, but she feels she likes him more. She hears continued hurtful whispers about him in the hallways of the school, and wants to tell people to give it up, explain his situation, but she holds her tongue. It's not her story to tell.

The week after midterms, Levy wakes up with a stomach flu. She spends the week at home, feeling like hell and cursing the time she's missing at school. She texts Lucy, who tells her that the paper is under control (there isn't much to report) and that Gajeel had asked after her. The knowledge makes Levy's heart flutter unrecognisably and she bemoans the time off even more. She devotes her week to catching up on some of the books on her to be read pile.

She wants to message Gajeel. She wants to ask how he's doing, ask about Pantherlily and Wendy, talk about... She's not sure what to talk to him about. Without the subject of exam prep she finds she's bereft, no framework to start from, and the knowledge makes her heart sink. So she doesn't message him, and concentrates on getting better – or trying to at least.

On the Saturday, she gets an envelope in the post with her results inside: all good grades – she's not disappointed. She texts Lucy, who says she did better than expected on most things but might have to resit Maths. She hesitates in sending a message to Gajeel, wording and re-wording the potential missive but eventually giving up.

She doesn't get a chance to see him until Monday, when she walks into class in the morning. With time to kill, she idly considers going to the library, but when she sees Gajeel sitting in his seat by the window, she goes over.

"Hey," she greets him, feeling something confusing in her tummy when he smiles up at her.

"Hi titch," he says. She feels like she should be bristling at the nickname, but the usual angry buzz in her spine is replaced with a strange, flip-flop feeling in her tummy. "How are you feeling?"

"Better!" she says. "That's not hard though – I was pretty sick."

"Yeah I don't imagine it was great," chuckles Gajeel.

"How's Pantherlily?" She wants to ask about his results, to know if he's done well enough to get Makarov off his back, but she's not sure how to ask.

"Lily's good," says Gajeel. "He was kinda grouchy during midterms because I couldn't wait on him hand and foot, but I bribed him with treats."

Levy laughs, but the opportunity doesn't go unnoticed. "How did midterms go?"

Gajeel grins. "Passed them all."

Levy's mouth drops open and her eyes go wide. "Oh my gosh! Really?" Gajeel nods, smile wide and infectious, and Levy feels pure joy bubbling up from her tummy to a laugh on her lips. "Well done!"

She pulls him into a hug without thinking about it, arms around his neck, and feels his warm hands at her waist. She squeezes him tightly, pleased that she was right: he gives excellent hugs. When they break the embrace, she gazes smilingly into his face for a moment before leaning in and pressing her lips to his. There's a moment of surprised inaction from him and she feels her heart leap unpleasantly, but then he leans forward and kisses her back, and her heart leaps for joy instead. As they part she giggles breathlessly, nose brushing his lightly and they grin at one another. She barely even notices the stunned mutters from the rest of the room. They can wait.


End file.
